Many of you have been speculating as to how things will work this season, given that we have more couples than we would in a regular season and we have the added complication of a Presidential election throwing a wrench into the show’s schedule. So we’ve decided to shed some light on the mystery of how the eliminations will work, and do some speculating of our own 😉

First things first: we don’t know for sure that this is exactly how things will play out, week-to-week. This is just the most likely scenario we were able to come up with, given what we’ve heard from various sources and press releases. And we aren’t even positive that the show will be 10 weeks – we’re assuming it will, given what we know historically, but there hasn’t even been any official confirmation on that. So take this all with a grain of salt – and you don’t get to bitch & moan to us if it doesn’t end up playing out this way. 😉

Here’s what we know: according to one of Derek’s tweets, there are two double eliminations, and those will occur in weeks 4 & 6. We also know from other sources that there will be one week with no elimination (likely due to the Presidential debates), and that there won’t be a results show on election day. Based on what went down in season 7 (when the last election occured), we also know that the show has the potential to get bumped forward or backward an hour to accomodate the debates or other election coverage. Given that information, here’s what we came up with:

Week 1: Single elimination – Business as usual: performance show Monday, 1 couple eliminated on Tuesday’s results show. I know some of you were complaining about having to lose a couple in week 1, as opposed to TPTB waiting until week 2 to let someone go – but I think after you read through this post, you’ll see that would be almost impossible. Couples remaining: 12.

Week 4: Double elimination – First of two double eliminations. This is also where things begin to get wonky due to the election – the 2nd presidential debate is set to be televised between 9-10:30 PM EST on Tuesday, so this will likely necessitate the results show being pushed forward or back 1 hour – at least on the east coast. There’s also the possibility that the results could be moved to another day entirely – maybe Wednesday, like they were one week in season 7. Couples remaining: 8.

Week 5: No elimination, no results show: Since the third and final Presidential debate is being televised between 9-10:30 PM EST on Monday, the performance show is obviously going to get cut short for those on the east coast (like me). Consequently, they are allegedly splitting the performance show into two nights – one hour on Monday, and one hour on Tuesday. I’m guessing they’ll just have 4 couples perform on each night. Since 4 couples dancing a standard-length routine doesn’t seem like enough to fill 1 hour (that’s a lot of filler, even with commercials), I think there might also be a 2nd dance this week – maybe a group dance or the team dance? So two performance nights, and no results show – so no elimination. Couples remaining: 8.

Week 7: Single elimination, no results show – Due to the ongoing Presidential election day coverage, there is no possible way they could have a regularly-scheduled results show on Tuesday – so one of two things has to happen: either the results show gets moved to a different night altogether (likely Wednesday), or they find a way to eliminate a couple at the end of Monday night’s performance show, similar to the format of last season of So You Think You Can Dance. And before you ask – no, I have absolutely no idea how the voting would work if it’s the latter option…but I do have reason to believe that it’s a possibility. Who knows. Couples remaining: 5.

Week 8: Single elimination – Back to business as usual. Regular elimination on a regular results show. Couples remaining: 4.

Fun fact: if the show is indeed 10 weeks long, this will be only the 2nd season in DWTS history (season 5 was the first) with a fall finale airing AFTER the Thanksgiving holiday. Not sure of the ratings implications that has (if any), but it does seem like the big reality shows try to end their seasons before the holidays roll around – I would guess because ratings typically fall during the holiday season, with everybody out Christmas shopping, going to holiday parties, baking, drinking Wassail, singing carols, eating fruitcake, whatever. Personally, I would rather stay home & Christmas shop online in my PJ’s, while watching A Christmas Story for 24 hours straight on ABC Family. 😛 But I digress…

So this funky schedule (and just this special season in general) poses some interesting problems – and the one many of you have brought to my attention is the issue of DVR’ing the show. Some of you have actually missed the show because your DVR didn’t pick it up – with some cable providers, the show is listed as “Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars” instead of just “Dancing with the Stars”, so if you were counting on your series record from last season to just automatically record this season…you might be in for an unpleasant surprise. So far, it seems to only be an issue for those with Brighthouse cable, but to be safe, you might want to check your scheduled recordings to make sure you’re all set up to record the show. In addition, with some of the show times potentially getting shifted to accomodate the election, you may have to manually change the settings on your DVR in order to catch shows running earlier or later than usual, or on different nights altogether. We’ll do our best here at Pure to try and keep you abreast of any time changes that we hear of.

So what do you guys think of the potential elimination schedule this season? Total chaos…or an acceptable solution to the multiple unique obstacles that this season poses?

Ultrasound sales specialist by day, semi-knowledgeable DWTS fan by night...with a smattering of hair & makeup enthusiast, occasional model, and crazy cat lady peppered in to make things REALLY interesting ;-) I might pee my pants in happiness if Donnie Wahlberg ever does DWTS - or if they ever use "Sunglasses at Night" as a paso doble. Check out some of my other work at pureamericasgottalent.com!